, 1887-12-23
RIFLES OF THE FUTURE.
EUROPEAN COUNTRIES ALL ENGAGED
IN REDUCING THE CALDER.

AAA' w N AAAAA ANtu ~
Ict-Gcrmany's Mauser and tho French
Lcbci-Austria's New Repeater-Other
We'll known Systems
Two features in infantry rifles are now
absorbing attention in all parts of the
world, the clliber and the repeating
apparatus. France, Germany, Austria,
England, Holland and Italy are all en-
gagged in reducing the caliber, and here in
our own country Gen. Benet says, in n re-
cent report, that 1.-THE question OF n re-
duced caliber for smaA arms is now under
consideration by the Departmental
statement which speaks volumes. With
Il smaller caliber are joined n steel cased
bullet and n compressed powder, or
else far more powerful powder, which
gives greater range and penetration,
while many additional cartridges of the
the smaller size can obviously he carried
by the soldier. This last advantage is the
more important, since the tendency to
fire too rapidly is increased by the repeat
ing arms.
Germany, in order to supply her army
with magazine guns ahead Of FRANCE,
kept her factories at Erfurth, Spandau
and Dantzic working day and night; and
now that she has completed the arming of
her troops at large cos, she is to begin all
over again with a new small bore rifle,
hfNAASt Alt ElthCh hhNt u blllll bOlts
The present German repeating arm, which
may do for the reserve and militia, is tho
Mauser of sixteen years ago, refurnished
with n magazine OF eight cartridges,
pushed by n spring into the barrel. Col.
Arbuthnot, superintendent of the Enfield
factory, considers 1t the worst repeater he
has seen. 1t is certainly both heavy and
i'll balanced, although 1t has the advan-
tag that n simple movement turns 1t
IN "a Cfpn1a loo1ar md ~ rapr1fraa m now
manual of drill. But it is doomed before
it has been really used, because n better
gun is found in France. The cRliber of
the new German rifle is TO be eight MILL
meters, which is only .3l5 inch, while
that of the Mauser is eleven millimeters,
or .432 inch.
II LEBEL RIFLE
The Lebcl rifle, adopted by France, is
of only .307 inch caliber, and carries
eight cartridges in n magazine under the
barrel. Its sharp pointed steel bullet,
about the size of n pea, driven at n won
derful velocity by n new smokeless pow
der, has great range and accuracy. The
soldier stn carry nearly twice as many of
its small cartridges as of the old style.
The trajectory is almost fiat for ranges
customary, with n consequent gain In
precision; the recoil is scarcely percepti-
BILE, and even the noise Of the report is
lIlillllb- lht IItlCH lThlOH Ilht III
other remarkable small bore, of .315
caliber.
Italy has n small caliber rifle under con-
siderItion in the invention of Capt. Freddl.
1t is OF .321 inch bore, and elects the empty
cartridge, opens the chamber and cocks
the piece. TIT Pieri is of about the same
bore, but of Il greater muZzle velocity,
this gun and the Lebel and the HELLER
being the most remarkable of the recent
Inventions Ia that ragf,nat Tho ITallar
Is very light, and is of only .296 inch
caliber.
The Schulhof repeater. the invention of
an Austrian, has been tried with much
t-horouchness in England. 1t takes ten
cartridges, introduced from n cardboard
box, and can also be used as n single
loader. 1t would cost less than the Eng
lish Martini Henry. But England, out OF
the lnrge number OF magazine guns open
to her, is trying by preference the inn
proved Lee md the Lee-Burton. Tho
Lee, so favorably known in the United
States, has a detachable magazine, and
this is preferred by some experts; but tho
British apparently decide in favor of hay
ing the hopper fixed, lest the movable one
should be dropped in the heat Of action.
They follow tho movement for small
calibers by fixing on n 81 bore, whatever
the selection of the magazine rifle system.
80. 49, - NA'A - -
and long bullet will secure high velocity,
fiat trajectory and accuracy of shooting.
Great Britain has had an experience some
thing like G~crmany's, since she had just
introduced the new Enfield Martini 40
Cnliber as an Improvement on her Martini
Henry, which has u 40 bore, like our
Springfield. Over 100, 900 have been com
pletcd, with new sword bayoncts, but the
small caliber will supersede them,
AUsTRIA's REPEATER,
Austria's new repeater, the Mannlicher,
fires accurately and rapidly, and can DO
held Mt the shoulder until its series OF
cartridges are delivered. Its detachable
magazine is carried in n frame which has
an ingenious apparatus for feeding the
cartridges into the barrel. In its freedom
from alteration OF aim between shots and
rapidity Of loading, it resembles the Lee,
but the latter can be used rs n single
loader, While the Mnnnlicher cannot.
Austria is also among the recent converts
to the small caliber, which will allow
more cartridges than the original Mann
lichcr. The Styria mandatory has re-
ceived orders to deliver no more of the
large caliber rifles.
Other well known systems are the
Hotchkiss, ChafTee- Reecc. Winchester,
Colt and Spencer Of American invention,
with the Kropatschek, Netterli, Jarmann
anu 'NlANAa III IsAlNlts 'N III WIS
the first country to fully arm her troops
with repeaters, adopting the Vetterli,
which is the heaviest OF all the magazine
guns, weighing ten pounds eight ounces,
or even six ounces more than the Mauser.
1t Caliber "a Ala. The Jnrmann is the
repeater Of Norway and Sweden, and is of
nbout the weight OF the Mauscr, with
high muzzle velocity, and the smallest
caliber, 1897, among the older magazine
arms. Tho Kropatschek has for years
been used rs n repeater in the French
navy; but for her land forces France had
made notifications rather of the Gras
rifle, on the system OF Lee, Robin, Picard
and others, prior to her selection Of the
Lcbcl. The Picard seems little affected
by the presence OF dust or sand. Portugal
has the Guedes, a modification OF tho
kropatschCk, with n small caliber, 1923,
and high velocity. Italy was very rapidly
arming her troops with n Netterli,
changed into n repeater on the Vital
system, but will be found devoting her:
self henceforth TO n small caliber arm.
1t is not alone the advantage to be
gained by Il tremendous volume of fire ut
u critical moment which makes all these
and other nations SO eager to secure the